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OXFORD, Ohio -- Behind a balanced scoring effort and outstanding defense, the Miami University women's basketball team picked up a 69-58 victory on Saturday afternoon over the Buffalo Bulls inside Millett Hall. Miami improves to 8-10 overall and 2-5 in Mid-American Conference play, while Buffalo drops to 10-8 overall and 2-5 in MAC play.

Miami was led by sophomore guard Kayla Brown, who had 16 points. Joining her in double figures were freshman guard Leah Purvis (13) and redshirt sophomore forward Megan Galloway (10). Galloway nearly had a double-double with eight rebounds, and she was almost joined by sophomore forward Molly McDonagh, who finished with eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Defensively, Miami held Buffalo to a 26.1 percent shooting for the contest and outrebounded the Bulls by a margin of 48-36.

Miami raced out to a 19-10 lead after 10 minutes of action. The RedHawks connected on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor and made 8-of-12 attempts from the charity stripe. Brown and Purvis had five points apiece and were a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor.

A Brown layup to open the second quarter gave Miami its largest lead of the half at 21-10. Buffalo answered with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 21-15 before Megan Galloway's put-back ended the mini Bulls' run. The RedHawks entered the locker room with a 28-22 advantage.

Buffalo opened the third quarter on an 11-4 run to claim a 32-31 lead, their first lead since opening up the contest 2-0. Seconds later Brown answered with a jumper from the top of the key to spot the Red and White a 33-32 lead with 4:24 to play in the third. Miami extended its lead to 44-39 at the end of the third quarter as freshman forward Kristen Levering's three pointer beat the buzzer.

Buffalo made it a one possession game, scoring the first three points of the final quarter to cut the lead to 44-42 with 9:13 to play, but a step-back three-pointer by sophomore guard Ana Richter followed by another three-pointer from Levering gave Miami a 50-42 lead. The RedHawks extended their lead to 57-47 following a bucket from Galloway with 4:54 to play. A pair of free throws by freshman guard Nanci Hunter and a put-back from Galloway pushed the lead to 61-47 with under three minutes to play.

Miami finished the contest shooting 46-percent and held advantages in rebounds (48-36) and assists (12-8).

Miami returns to action next Saturday (Jan. 30) in a road tilt at Central Michigan. The contest is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. and will be carried live on ESPN3.

Baleigh Reid Update
Head Coach Cleve Wright mentioned in his postgame comments that sophomore guard Baleigh Reid will miss the remainder of the season with an injury.